ESSEX JUNCTION – Wheelchairs, crutches and walkers have been donated by the hundreds at The Light Radio Network all week in Essex Junction.

General Manager and Morning Show Host Ric McClary of Richmond had to step over new offerings every day last week to get to work in the 110-year-old house the station inhabits. Its front porch was overflowing.

Wheels for the World, which ran all week, prompted people to drop items off at all hours. The drive ended Friday.

The Light Radio Network is a listener-supported, nonprofit radio network operating under parent company Christian Ministries, Inc.

Locally the signal is 91.5 FM. Light Radio reaches Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Canada, and has about 25,000 listeners.

“We are growing,” McClary said. “Over the last 12 years we have grown from six to 13 signals in Vermont.”

Wheels for the World is a program of Joni and Friends ministry, a popular syndicated show aired on the station. The ministry collects wheelchairs and other mobility devices for worldwide distribution.

Joni and Friends was founded by Joni Eareckson Tada after a diving accident left her a quadriplegic. All donations are transported, restored, and distributed by Wheels for the World.

People often give up when they get injured, McClary said. “They kind of fold into themselves,” he said. “Joni is an inspiration.”

Obtaining mobility devices in some countries is a big challenge, McClary said.

“We wanted to help,” McClary said. “Lots of people have wheelchairs and walkers sitting in their basements and closets. I thought, let’s get them out of there and give them to people who can use them.”

McClary visited Ethiopia on a mission trip a couple of years ago. When he saw a man with no legs below the knees crawling across a busy intersection, he asked the driver to stop. “There were cars everywhere,” McClary said. “I thought we should help him. Our driver said the man crosses like that every day. I have that visual forever in my head. I thought someday I could help somehow. This drive is a way to do that.”

McClary worked in secular radio for about 20 years before joining Light Radio 12 years ago. “I love radio,” he said. “To be able to share the gospel over the airwaves and impact hundreds of miles of territory and thousands of people, that’s exciting to me.”

About thirty percent of Light Radio listeners are not Christian. “It’s about bringing people hope,” McClary said. “You don’t have to be Christian to listen. We offer encouragement and positive messages twenty-four seven. We would like people who have never listened to check us out.”

The station has no church denomination, and offers a variety of programming that focus on family, bible teachings, overcoming adversity, and plays contemporary Christian music.

Light Radio Program Director and Noon Hour Host Bob Pierce of Milton said the drive has been both exciting and encouraging. “People have come out to participate in a big way,” he said. “It’s like, ‘hey this wheelchair could end up in Haiti, or for a child in the Congo.’ That’s a good feeling. It’s going to be a huge blessing to a lot of people.”

Contact Lynn Monty at LynnMonty@FreePressMedia.com and follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VermontSongbird.